According to the data provided by the Association of European Car Manufacturers (ACEA), new EU car registrations increased by 0.9% compared to the same nine months last year, marking the third consecutive month of growth. This recent momentum has been driven in part by the launch of new models, with September alone posting a strong 10% increase.
The battery-electric car market share held steady at 16.1% YTD, still below the pace required at this stage of the transition. Hybrid-electric vehicles remained the most popular power type choice among buyers.
By power source
Up until September 2025, battery-electric cars accounted for 16.1% of the EU market share, an increase from the low baseline of 13.1% in September 2024 YTD. Hybrid-electric car registrations continue to surge, capturing 34.7% of the market, remaining the preferred choice among EU consumers. Meanwhile, the combined market share of petrol and diesel
cars fell to 37%, down from 46.8% over the same period in 2024.
Electric
In the first nine months of 2025, 1,300,188 new battery-electric cars were registered, capturing 16.1% of the EU market share. Three of the four largest markets in the EU, accounting for 62% of battery-electric car registrations, saw gains: Germany (+38.3%), Belgium (+12.4%), and the Netherlands (+3.9%). This contrasted with France, which saw a slight decline of 0.2%, despite an 11.2% YOY gain in September 2025.
Hybrid
September 2025 YTD figures also showed new EU hybrid-electric car registrations rising to 2,793,079 units, driven by growth in the four biggest markets: France (+28.8%), Spain (+28.1%), Germany (+10.6%), and Italy (+9.2%). Hybrid-electric models account for 34.7% of the total EU market.
Registrations of plug-in-hybrid electric cars continue to grow, reaching 722,914 units during the same period. This was driven by increases in volume across key markets, including Spain (+105.2%), Germany (+63.9%), and Italy (+72.6%). As a result, plug-in hybrid electric cars now account for 9% of EU car registrations, up from 6.9% last year.
The YOY variation in September 2025 showed a 20% rise for battery-electric and a 15.9% rise for hybrid-electric cars, while plug-in hybrid electric recorded its seventh consecutive month of strong growth, with a 65.4% increase.
Petrol and diesel
By the end of September 2025, petrol car registrations declined by 18.7%, with all major markets experiencing decreases. France experienced the steepest drop, with registrations plummeting by 32.8%, followed by Germany (-23.5%), Italy (-16.6%), and Spain (-13.2%).
With 2,234,058 new cars registered so far, the market share for petrol dropped to 27.7% from 34.4% (a 19.4% decrease) in the same period last year. Similarly, the diesel car market declined by 24.7%, resulting in a 9.3% share for September 2025 YTD. Additionally, the September 2025 YOY variation showed a 7.8% decline in petrol and a 14.3% decline in diesel.
Tendencies in the EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland) and in the UK are practically the same.
By make
In September, the VW Group increased its sales by 11.1%, staying comfortably in the lead in the EU. Growth came primarily from Volkswagen (+9.6%), Skoda (+13%), and Cupra (+55.9%). Stellantis stays second, at a considerable distance, but also managed to increase registrations by 10.5%. Number three, Renault Group, grows best, with a 14.4% sales increase.
Toyota Group (+6.2% in sales) is fourth, while Hyundai Group (+0.3%) stays fifth. BMW Group is sixth but registered a slight loss (-2.8%), while Mercedes, seventh, increased sales by4.8%. Ford (8th) lost 6.7% of its sales, and Volvo (9th) also lost a little (-.9%). Just behind comes the first Chinese group (SAIC Motor), selling almost as many cars as Volvo and increasing its sales by an impressive 79.2%.
Further figures to notice: a 19.8% sales increase for Nissan (11th), an 18.6% sales decrease (again) for Tesla (13th), and a whopping 272.1% sales increase for BYD (15th). The Jaguar Land Rover Group saw its sales decrease by 23.2%, due to a 17.1% decline at Land Rover (where a hacking incident disrupted production for quite a while) and the complete stop of Jaguar sales.
Cumulated
Over the first 9 months of 2025, Volkswagen Group managed to increase its market share from 26.5% to 27.5%, increasing its sales by 4.8% overall. Number two, Stellantis, still sees its market share dive (from 17.2% to 15.8%) while sales dropped by 7.2%.
Renault Group, on the contrary, is doing well, increasing its market share from 10.7% to 11.4% and increasing sales by 6.6%. Toyota Group lost fourth place to Hyundai Group due to a declining market share (from 7.9% to 7.4%) and a 5.1% decline in sales. Hyundai Group also saw sales decline (-4.5%), but lost slightly less market share (from 8% to 7.6%).
Over 9 months, the BMW Group sold 6% more cars, increasing its market share from 6.6% to 7% and moving closer to the top five. Mercedes-Benz sold 2% more cars and maintained its 5.1% market share at seventh place. Ford remains eighth with 2.9%, followed by Volvo with 2.2% (down from 2.6%).
Also, over nine months, Chinese SAIC Motor has conquered 10th place, thanks to a sales increase of 37.3% and a market share of 1.9% (up from 1.4%). Here also, Tesla has slipped to 13th place, with a 38.7% sales decrease and a market share that fell from 2.3% to 1.4%.
Jaguar Land Rover Group finally sold 13.8% fewer cars, primarily due to Jaguar, which saw its sales dwindle from 4,599 cars in the first three quarters of 2024 to 934 in the same period this year. This was attenuated by JLR’s sales in the UK, where Land Rover still sold more cars than in the whole of the European Union, and even Jaguar sales amounted to a small 2,000 units.
